Arif Müfid Mansel

Historian and archeologist (b. 1905, İstanbul - d. 1975, İstanbul). He attended Saint Benoit Private French High School and in 1925 he began his studies on archeology at Berlin University. He returned to Turkey in 1930, having received his doctorate degree. He served as Assistant Director at İstanbul Archeology Museum for twelve years. Meanwhile, he gave lectures at İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Ancient History. He became an assistant professor in 1936, an associate professor in 1944 and became a distinguished professor in 1956.

In the same period, the Chair of Classical Archeology was established at İstanbul University. Besides giving lectures, he carried out excavation works and did research on the cultural history of Thrace, at the request of Atatürk, as it had not been studied sufficiently until then. He determined the tumuli (mausoleums), which were quite common in Thrace and he conducted excavation and drilling works and opened the vaulted mausoleums of Kırklareli to scientific study (1936-1938). Furthermore, he excavated at Balaban Ağa Masjit in İstanbul (1930) and at the thermal springs of Yalova (1932).

After being elected a member of the Turkish Historical Society (1938), he conducted surface analyses in the Pamphylia region from 1943 to 1946 and he initiated excavations in Perge and Side. He continued working until his death on excavations in Side, which was the most important port town in Pamphylia. In 1954 he established the Antalya Area Center for Archeological Research, in order to preserve and restore the findings in Side and Perge.

WORKS:

Yunan ve Romalılarda Çok Katlı Yapılar (Storied Buildings of the Greeks and Romans, written in German, 1932), İran'ın Tarihi ve Arkeolojisi (History and Archeology of Iran, 1932), Yalova Kılavuzu (A Guide to Yalova, 1936), Kırklareli Kubbeli Mezarları, Sahte Kubbe ve Kemer Problemi (Vaulted Mausoleums in Kırklareli, Fake Vaults and the Problem of Arcs, 1943), Silifke Kılavuzu (A Guide to Silifke, 1943), Eski Doğu ve Ege Tarihinin Ana Hatları (Main Features of the Ancient Eastern and Aegean Region, 1945), Ege ve Yunan Tarihi (History of the Aegean Region and Greece, 1947), Türkiye'nin Arkeoloji Epigrafi ve Tarihi Coğrafyası İçin Bibliyoğrafya (Bibliography for Archeological Epigraphs and the Historical Geography of Turkey, 1948), Mısır ve Ege Tarihi Notları (Notes on Egyptian and Aegean History, 1938), Trakya'nın Kültür ve Tarihi (The History and Culture of Thrace, 1938),  Die Ruinen Von Side (Ruins in Side, 1963), Side Klavuzu (A Guide to Side, 1967), Side Yılları Kazıları ve Araştırmaları Sonuçları (Results of Excavations and Studies Conducted in Side between 1947-66, 1975). 

REFERENCE: “Arif Müfit Mansel” (Türkiye Ansiklopedisi, c. 3, s. 1016–1017, 1974), “Mansel, Arif Müfid” (Büyük Larousse (c. 13, s. 7767, 1986), “Mansel, Arif Müfid” (Ana Britannica, c. 15, s. 298, 1987), Erdem Yücel / Ord. Prof. Dr. Arif Müfid Yüksel Anısına (2003), İhsan Işık / Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).